Souls of Aredyrah 2 - The Search for the Unnamed One Read Free Page B

and
no one there seems to care what my hands look like anyway. Even I
do not care so much anymore. But you know, they seem to have gotten
better since I have been with the Shell Seekers. It must be the
seawater. They say it has healing properties.”
    Dayn grinned and tilted his head. “What’s
that on your eyes? I mean…is it permanent?”
    Reiv chuckled, realizing the black pattern
that outlined them must appear strange to his cousin. “No, it is
kohl, not tattoo. It protects them from the glare.” A gleam came to
his eyes, further accentuating their violet color against the black
outline of the kohl. “The girls there really seem to like it.” He
winked, and they both laughed.
    “Speaking of girls,” Reiv said, craning his
neck, “where is Alicine?”
    “She’s out tending to some patients, but
hopefully she’ll be home soon. Nannaven had some mysterious errand
to run and left Alicine to finish up the rounds. She looks forward
to seeing you, cousin.”
    Reiv noticed that Dayn’s eyes had shifted at
that last remark, but his heart could not help but leap. “It will
be nice to see her, too. I hope she is well.”
    “Yes, she’s well.”
    “And does she still wish to go back home to
Kirador?”
    “Yes, but she doesn’t talk of it as much
lately. I keep hoping she’ll grow happy here, but sometimes she
just seems so sad.” Dayn shook his head slowly. “I don’t know how
to make her happy, Reiv.”
    Reiv nodded, but said not a word. As he
considered what Dayn had just said, the thought occurred to him
that maybe there was something else that Alicine needed in order to
be happy. Perhaps he was the source of her sadness…because they had
parted with harsh words…because she missed him and didn’t really
think him so bad. His fingers slid to the money pouch at his side,
reminding him of the shell bracelet tucked inside. He had worked
hard to craft it, hoping Alicine would accept it as a token of his
affection, praying she would consider a future with him now that he
had made something of himself as a Shell Seeker. But his thoughts
were interrupted as the door pushed open and Alicine swept into the
room.
    She stopped suddenly and stared at him, her
face awash with unreadable emotion. Her lips struggled to form a
smile, but seemed to waver as though conflicted.
    Reiv smiled. “Hello, Alicine,” he said.
    “Hello,” she responded, but her tone was
somewhat cooler than he had hoped. No doubt she was not as
forgiving as Dayn had implied.
    “You look different,” she said.
    Reiv grinned sheepishly. “Yes, I suppose I
do. You look well.”
    “Thank you,” she said. She walked over and
sat across from him at the table, staring at the tabletop as though
afraid to meet his gaze. She no longer wore the form-fitting sarong
he had last seen her in, but was attired in a modest tunic dress
the color of dark umber, tied at the waist with a belt of patterned
cloth. Her black hair was pulled back and braided in one long
plait, much as she had worn it the day they first met. Her eyes
moved to his hands.
    “They look better,” she said, nodding in
their direction.
    Reiv held them up and rotated them back and
forth. “Yes, I was telling Dayn that I think the sea does them
good.”
    “Does it do you good as well?” she asked.
    “Yes,” Reiv replied, “it does.”
    “So you like it there?”
    “Very much.”
    “You’ll not be coming back then?”
    “No, Alicine, I will not be coming back, at
least not to live, but I was wondering—”
    “What’s that on your eyes?”
    “Oh, it is kohl. All Shell Seekers wear it.
Jensa came up with the design. The first day I refused it and—”
    Alicine cut him short. “So I suppose that is
what you are now—a Shell Seeker?”
    “Well, yes,” he said.
    “So what will you be doing next, tattooing
your body and piercing your ears?”
    “Jecta paint their faces, too,” Dayn
interjected. “Besides, Reiv says the girls like him with the kohl
and—” His face went